Name/Title
RunaboutEntry/Object ID
2007.018Description
Bombita
Bombita is a small racing runabout from the late 1930s. More specifically, it is an International Class A 100 cubic inch racing runabout. It was built by Dr. Martin Haurin of Bensalem, PA for racing in this class, and purchased in 1943 by Phillip Sharples, who raced it very successfully for many years, winning its class in a President's Cup Regatta, as well as the Free-For-All race at that same event. On September 27, 1947, Bombita set the world water speed record for her class.
Though at first glance most people take bombita to be a racing hydroplane, she is properly called a runabout, since she has a shallow-vee planing hull with no steps or sponsons. She has a very low freeboard for this type of hull, and is also unusually sharp in the bow. The low freeboard requires that the engine be under a raised hood, in this case an aerodynamic canvas-covered wooden framework. The seat-back is of the same construction and also aerodynamically shaped. Together these two features give the boat the look of dirt-track racecars of the era. The hull is frame-and-batten construction made mostly out of plywood and plywood-covered. The deck is made of three pieces of varnished mahogany plywood, set off by aluminum trim. It was professionally built but has no evident builder plate or hull number.
Mr. Sharples had the boat restored in the late 1980s. St. Lawrence Restoration, of Clayton, NY, rebuilt the bottom, and it was then sent to The Everett Boat Works of Canton, NY, for replacement of the deck and re-canvasing of the engine cover and seat-back. It was evidently re-powered at about the same time, and a new exhaust put through the port side of the hull just in front of the driver seat. The current engine is a hopped-up straight four-cylinder built on an aluminum VW Rabbit block, with twin dual-intake Italian Weber carburetors. This modern engine definitely produces more power and probably weighs less than the original power plant. It is direct-drive, with no transmission. A recent appraisal of Bombita by Mr. Mark Mason records the engine as being an antique 4-cylinder built by Frank Bash.
There is a story about a presidential encounter with this boat. Mr. Sharples was driving the boat in a race at the President's Cup Regatta and an unsuspecting President Harry Truman was watching the race from a yacht near a corner of the racetrack. Phillip came around the turn in the lead and clipped the top off of a wave, drenching Truman in the spray. The president is said to have yelled out "Nice going, you sonofabitch!" The source of this story is Everett Smith, but it has also been told by Peter Kreissle, Mark Mason and others and seems to be part of the legend of the boat. Peter also claimed that there is a picture of the event, showing both Truman and Bombita. Ed Kattel, who competed in an outboard race at the President's cup in 1954, suggested that the viewing stand on shore was easily close enough to the racecourse to get someone wet, and that the President may have been standing there rather than on the deck of a yacht. An inquiry about this event to the President Truman historical library turned up no results, except that the Truman did award the trophy for the Unlimited class the day after the 1946 President's Cup Regatta.
Different drivers agree that this boat handles extremely well at high speed even in rough water. Mr. Sharples enjoyed it so much that in the 1990s he commissioned Mark Mason and New England Boat & Motor to build him a scaled-up version. Both boats have participated in boat shows and race boat regattas at the Antique Boat Museum in the past. Bombita is important for its history as a raceboat and also because of its connection to Phillip Sharples, who has long been a prominent figure in the antique boat community.
The boat is in fine condition, display-ready and runable, with only one or two flecks in the paint on the canvas-covered pieces. It has its own well-fitted custom-made trailer.
Trivia: the hinge on the engine hood is from a toilet seat. Mr. Sharples wanted Everett Smith at the Everett Boat Works to replace it, but a suitable replacement was not available.Collection
BoatsAcquisition
Accession
2007.018Source or Donor
Sharples, PhilipAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Manufacturer
unknownDate made
1939Notes
Propulsion: Inboard
Cylinders: 4Location
Building
*William J. Morgan Building
